Sep 27, 2012

How are you doing today?
Its been a normal week for me. School, kids, house work and hooky time. Things are settling down nicely now. The little miss is off to school for a good 3 hours. I get some breather. Though not much as the younger man is becoming all active now-a-days. Climbs and climbs and climbs some more. He is always up to some mischief and needs constant monitoring with both hands free. Still does not talk much but never fails to communicate his heart desires and gets it done!! Everything is done with pointy fingers now :) I am enjoying that till the time he does not talk and start demanding in louder tones!

Today i am sharing a very special piece of crochet with my lovely readers. This is the first crochet wearable i have ever done. It was done on a trial basis but turned out much better than i expected.

You can find the pattern HERE.
Of-course i modified it :) Also added a different color row, think that just adds life to the entire shrug!

Here's little miss, modeling it for me and my readers, she refused to wear a garment below. Said she needs "only only sweater"!

This is real close to my heart! Hope you guys liked it!!

My granny patch blanket is coming along, boy it is a huge task! 672 squares!! What was i thinking??? Anyways i am having fun in a relaxing way. The real fun fun begins when i start joining them! I have done 70+ more squares in 2 shades of blue. Now have moved on to peaches and purples. Think i will be out of yarn as i seem to have under ordered. Must rectify that immediately and order some more. Mr Banker better not be reading this, else he will say," more yarn? Why don't you open i shop?" Oh, how i wish:)

Sep 24, 2012

How was your weekend? We had a relaxed one here. Just stayed in at home, watched good old television, made and had home comfort food and watched a very well made Israeli movie - Mivtsa Yonatan or Operation Thunderbolt. It is more of a multilingual film and a pretty good one at that.

Little people have been busy, Miss is learning A,B,C's and keeps asking me - Mamma, A is for aeroplane or A is for apple! I tell her both but she doesn't buy it. Teaching kids these days is a learning experience for mothers i feel. ABC's aren't taught the way we learned them. Its all phonics now, so she is learning S A T I P and N for now! Well, i learned it in order and my English is OK!!

So back to what's on my hook now a days. Its this..

More than 300+ granny squares done as of now. Half of them with ends weaved in and i am proud of the weaving in part :)

Love love love love love again more love the StyleCraft yarn. The colors really make the project. Cannot make my mind as to which color is the best!

We purchased a table-chair set for the little people. My girl is beginning to write and does complain that the other table and chair options aren't good! All kids do deserve their own table n chair set anyways, especially when they start writing and developing their fine motor skills :)

Just a kick for changing the curtains, purchased an animal safari one to go with the children corner theme!

All my squares, neatly tucked away, waiting to become a warm blanket. Well just 300+ more to go. I can do it, breathe and i can do it. Well the colors are so lovely, anyone can do it..

Have a great week ahead guys!

I am off to school now, to pick up my little miss. Take care, be good and keep well. Stay calm and crochet along :)

Sep 20, 2012

Autumn has set in here in Hong Kong, I can see pumpkins everywhere, there is a slight chill in the air. Its very romantic outside and also extremely pleasant to do all things out-dory :)

People have started putting on a thin sweater or a jacket. I had to open up the winter wardrobe for the little people. Came upon this sweater/jacket i had crocheted for little miss last year.

You can find the Ravelry link HERE. I think i must have altered the pattern to fit her as the sizes weren't big enough.

I shorted the sleeves as i find full sleeves a bit cumbersome on toddlers. Especially the messy and on the go ones :) Also Raglan and top-down method is my favourite method of doing sweaters. Really gives a very nice finish and also you can do a lot more in terms of patterns. Once you crochet the yoke, the body of the sweater can be done in any stitch, color combination.

I have tried the bottom-up approach and the separate pieces for the body and attaching the sleeves later on. They all work out good. But this approach gives a neat finish as the sleeves and armholes are all done in 1 piece. More of the methods at a later post maybe :)

Loved the easy shell pattern and the yarn though locally bought is very find and feels almost like merino. Worth the price as it has already lasted 1 winter season and still good to go!

Little Miss was kind enough to model in it for a few clicks. Though she did not take it off for the entire day. Added to it, the sun came out in full force later on and she was sweating all the time! Still did not remove it!!

What are you guys hooking today? Would love to hear from you as always. Keep the hook in the go!

It's been so great to get onto blogging and meeting so many amazing people!

Yesterday i was out and about, getting errands done, while i could be happily crocheting, naah, need to do some stuff for the house, pending paperwork and long overdue DE-cluttering of the Diaper Home. Whilst i was out buying some dresses for the little people, who always seem to outgrow their shorts and underpants, i came upon this at my local flee market.

Isn't this ball of whatever so utterly gorgeous :) I could not resist myself and purchased the ones below too.

Crochet hook 10mm did the trick. It is really thick material and not expensive. Costs HK $ 30 for 2 balls. I bought 4 such ones.The street market ladies stock a whole range of colors, mostly variegated.The fastest piece of crochet i have ever done!!! Decided on a foot mat as the ball of yarn/wool/felt was really sooo very soft to touch.

My son decided to be the first one to step on it. This is a circle done in simple SC. It was soo much fun to do this. And worked up in a couple of hours.

Meanwhile have something to share with you guys. A dear friend and a fellow blogger, who is an awesome paper crafter and an equally amazing and talented lady has featured an interview of yours truly on her blog. You can read about it here:

Sep 12, 2012

Hope this Wednesday is bright and sunny and all your loved ones are too :) I really like Wednesdays. It's neither like the hectic Mondays nor is it like the relaxed Fridays and weekends. It sits in the middle, just calm, settled in the weekly hum-duns..Neither too frantic but in its own pace and rhythm..

I have been meaning to show you guys the progress i have been making with my Giant Granny Patch blanket. I am so so so loving this StyleCraft yarn and the amazing colors it comes in. Its really beautiful to work with and i am thrilled to bits.

I am done with 4 colors completely and working on the green - Meadow color right now. Isn't it gorgeous. Cant imagine how the blanket will turn out with the addition of the remaining 13 colors.

The red, green and blue look really good together. Thinking of ordering some more to make sweaters or kiddo blankets.

Tried stacking them all up for you, but they toppled over. Each ball gives me around 38 squares. So i am almost near the 125 squares mark. 125 of 672 done!!

Realized that i need to yarn in those ends as soon as the square is done. Been diligent with the red and green and will be in future.

What are you guys working on this week and month. Would love to hear from you as always :)

Keep happy and keep hooking!

Love,
xxx

PS : Happy International Crochet day to all my lovely fellow crocheters!

Sep 10, 2012

Having the blues? Feeling down as you need to work? Falling mentally ill because you need to start the grind again? ha ha..welcome to the Monday morning!!

I have had a hectic weekend, not the relaxing sorta one which i would have dreamed off :( Banker was really ill and the kids were just recovering. My helper was also off on Sunday and believe me i dint have a spare minute even to sit and think about crocheting or blogging. The brighter side being me and the little miss did lots of crafting. The school has asked to make a lantern for the Mid-Autumn festival using recycled materials. You can read more about this festival HERE. A craft project to be done by both the parents and the kids together. I dig such things and immediately set off to get a creative lantern done.

She painted toilet paper rolls blue.

A really keen painter i must say !

These were our raw materials. Rather recycled materials. An empty juice carton and some form sheets which i had bought a while ago.

We made a rocket lantern using the following materials :

1.An empty juice carton/milk carton. Wash it thoroughly and clean it. Cut it open and cut off the top.
2.Toilet paper rolls. Cut a single roll into 2 pieces. Cut 1 inch long stripes on the rolls and fold them outwards so that they become stick-able.
3.Take plain A4 sheets. Give your pre-schooler her favourite color paints and a brush. Ask her/him to paint the whole sheet with the color. I did it in red, blue and yellow.
4.Stick the red color paper over the juice carton for making the body of the rocket red.
5.Cute rocket wings out of any cereal box and stick the blue sheet over it.
6.Paint the toilet paper rolls blue and glue them on to the base of the juice carton.
7. Here's the part i loved the most - Cut foam sheets in 3 different colors and layer them for a fire effect. Roll them together and fit it in the toilet roll and voila!! a beautiful effect :)

8.Make any kinda decorations your toddler asks for. Give her some glitter glue and some punches and you are good to do!
9.Cut a circular piece of card board and roll it into a cone. Stick it on the top of the carton for the rocket's top.
10.I cut some paper fringes from craft paper and the little miss stuck it on the rocket.
11.Make holes on either side of the carton and just thread some yarn through them so that the little ones can hold it.

Lo and behold your rocket lantern is ready!!!

She says she's worked real hard for it :|

We put a glow stick inside it through the door i cut in the carton. It glows and all..She is thrilled to bits when i did this. Makes me so happy that i a m a crafty and a stay at home mom :)

Can you believe that i have hardly hooked and my granny square count is WAY wayyyyy behind. Off i go to attend to it! Awe...not so fast says my kids, there is 2 meals and 2 naps inbetween my and my favourite hook right now. *sigh* soooo long!